Archive for April 29th, 2008
If Fortune is right, there could be a game-changing move coming this summer that will bring the iPhone into the mainstream for many more consumers. While still tied to AT&T, Fortune says the 3G iPhone will come with a $200 discount from the wireless company that will bring the price down to $199 for the 8GB and $299 for the 16GB device. Being 3G, the higher speed data service could open up video streaming to your handset. Imagine your live newscast or VOD being viewed by consumers away from the television AND computer. Plus, if Fortune is right, the phone will also have GPS built in. That will make Google maps that much better.
Beta tests look like iPhone is opening up to sync with Microsoft Outlook servers for all of us Blackberry-bound business users who can’t let go of our e-mail for even a few minutes. With that in mind, could iPhone be the new Blackberry for business? I’d love one. Hint.
April 29th, 2008
In TV newsrooms, “it seems that adopting the culture of the web is often forbidden… until it’s compulsory,” writes Steve Safran. Which, when you think of it, is really true. I’ll add a new one to the list: linking your competition.
April 29th, 2008
Reuters reports that NBC and CBS will submit a second bid for The Weather Channel and its digital properties. Owner Landmark Communications is trying to unload the network, and a second round of bids is due in early May. Reuters said the channel will likely fetch less than $5 billion.
April 29th, 2008
As David wrote below, Grand Theft Auto IV hits store shelves today. Some are even saying that GTA could be the best game title in history. Now, let’s put the violence discussion aside and focus on the mind-boggling media/technology aspects of the game. Just watch this trailer and review, which illustrates that GTA has taken video gaming to a new level. Unbelievable.
As I’ve written off and on over the years, video games are becoming interactive movies, and they’ll ultimately replace most of the traditional Hollywood movie industry. Why would you want to sit passively and watch a movie (or a TV show) when you can live a movie? Video games already generate more money than the movie industry, but games like GTA IV illustrate that the gaming business is just getting warmed up. Soon games will transition from interactive movies to virtual reality experiences. And the sky’s the limit.
April 29th, 2008
The predictions that the latest installment of the popular GTA franchise would break Halo 3’s first-week sales figures appear to be true based on the release-day rush. At a time when media and entertainment spending is way down, GTAIV is set to pull in $400 million. It is also getting rave reviews as a “brutal and satirical masterpiece” and mentioned in the company of films like “The Godfather” and “Scarface.”
We’ve tried to issue the wakeup call to big-ol-media for years now here at 1 LR Plaza. GTAIV and Halo 3 are proving us right. Current gaming technology offers the most powerful communications and storytelling platform ever seen. And the market is speaking, very loudly. Anyone remember the episode of HBO’s Entourage where Peter Jackson is working in his gaming studio. Or George Lucas saying that he wasn’t done with the Star Wars franchise by not making more movies, chosing to make games instead.
April 29th, 2008
Advertising Age’s MediaWorks section has a slew of articles that are worth your attention:
RE: The last one. Kind of topical for those readers that remember how Cory and I recently posted numbers within days of of each other from ComScore and Hitwise that offered very different views on video traffic.
April 29th, 2008
Cox Enterprises has purchased Adify for around $300 million. Adify, which is on track to hit $35M in revenues this year, is best known for powering the Washington Post’s local blog network. It also powers NBC WeatherPlus’ ad network. Cox Enterprises includes Cox Communications (cable), Cox Newspapers, Cox Television, Cox Radio and Cox Auto Trader — so clearly lots of opportunities to create interesting ad networks powered by Adify. In fact, we can only wonder if the Cox TV stations will launch local ad networks similar to the CBS O&Os earlier this year. Release below…
Read the full post April 29th, 2008
Some TV shows, when converted into user-powered web properties, make a lot of sense. Take the People’s Court, for example. The show’s new site, PeoplesCourtRaw.com, invites users to upload “public arguments” of an issue, both for and against. So for example, one issue is “boyfriends should pay for birth control.” Both the girlfriend and the boyfriend posted their video arguments, and the public can vote (right now, girlfriend is winning with 61%.) By the way, the site hasn’t officially launched yet — it was discovered by this site while still in beta. And while TMZ.com founder Harvey Levin hosts an introductory video on the site, he’s not the creator of PeoplesCourtRaw.com.
April 29th, 2008
Saw this on El País yesterday and had to grab a screenshot:
Two video embeds above the fold! It’s as if El País uses the video embed as their story art for the tease whenever possible. Brilliant!
April 29th, 2008
