Red66 Linkblog

MercuryNews.com | 06/26/2006 | Betting on the big bundle

Actually, the big cable and phone companies want to do it for you.
They’re hoping that by investing in businesses beyond what they’re
known for, they’ll be able to offer customers bundles, or what they
call the “quadruple play:'’ Internet, television and home- and
cell-phone service, all from one company. They’re banking that
consumers will prefer the convenience of getting one bill from one
provider rather than choosing from the growing number of phone, TV and
Internet options.

Blogged with Flock

24, Prison Break, Unan1mous, Stacked, Buffy, Firefly, Lost in Space… now on iTunes.

Why ABC’s ‘Lost’ Is the Future of Online Media

ABC’s “Lost” has done more than any other media before it to enable interaction around a brand on multiple platforms. It is the first truly pan-media experience, and that holds lessons for content producers everywhere.
“Lost” is everywhere. It’s a television show that was born in a traditional analog world but came of age in a digital world where the very idea of “television” is giving way to the idea of ubiquitous, platform-agnostic video.

But the show’s presence extends beyond just video. Viewers interact with the brand on multiple platforms. There are Web sites devoted to translating the whispers heard on the show. People track the literary works mentioned. ABC has even created fake Web sites for elements of the show, like for the band Driveshaft.

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | BBC unveils radical revamp of website

The BBC today unveiled radical plans to rebuild its website around user-generated content, including blogs and home videos, with the aim of creating a public service version of MySpace.com.

News from PC Magazine: Philips Downsizes Mobile TV

Royal Philips Electronics will release a new chip that enables much smaller TV phones, according to an announcement today at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas.

What’s next in telecommunications? | Tech News on ZDNet

What’s next in telecommunications?

As the most influential executives in the telecommunications
industry gather this week in Las Vegas for their annual powwow, they’re
more likely to be talking about TV than phones.

Judging from the diverse list of keynote speakers, it’s easy to see
that the phone business is readying itself for cataclysmic change. The
traditional telecommunications market has already begun consolidating in anticipation.

New technology developments are making it possible for content owners,
such as Disney, and Internet companies, such as Google and Yahoo, to
also become competitors to the cable and phone companies, since these
companies will also be able to deliver telephony and video services.

MercuryNews.com | 03/20/2006 | Startup to wed mobile games with live TV shows

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Dialing into the fast-growing market for mobile games, a San Francisco-based startup is poised to unveil a new service on Monday that it hopes will make television viewers as hooked to their cell phones as they are to remote controls.

AirPlay Network Inc. said it will introduce a lineup of cell phone games tied to live television broadcasts. While watching TV, subscribers could use their cell phones to compete against others in “real time'’ by predicting plays in sports, choosing winners on reality TV shows or picking answers on game shows.

Wired 14.03: START

DVRs, DVDs, iTunes Video - no one watches TV in real time anymore. So Nielsen Media Research, the venerable monitor of America’s viewing habits, is rebooting.

Macworld UK - Sopranos sing on iTunes.

Sopranos sing on iTunes

Yet more TV-related shows have debuted on iTunes in the US, this time from HBO’s globally successful series, ‘The Sopranos’.

As it prepares to launch the sixth season of the series, the network is offering video interviews with the cast, show summaries, behind-the-scenes footage and audio clips through Apple’s service. Complete shows aren’t being released just yet.

HBO has also introduced similar content for three other shows: ‘Big Love’, ‘Rome’ and ‘Entourage’.

MercuryNews.com | 03/13/2006 | Smut goes wireless; critics sound alarm.

Call it pornography for iPods. Smut for smart-phones. Call it what you will, mobile pornography is a growing business.

Adult content is already the top Google search for most mobile Web browsers, and thousands of soft-core porn videos have been downloaded since appearing on Apple Computer’s iTunes store. With the popularity of video-enabled phones and music players like the video iPod, mobile porn seems like a natural next big thing.